The slave is not afflicted with a punishment greater than the hardening of
the heart and being distant from Allah for the Fire was created to melt the
hardened heart. The most distant heart from Allah is the heart which is
hardened. If the heart becomes hardened, the eye becomes dry.

If four matters are exceeded in quantity, beyond what is necessary, the heart
shall become hardened:
Food, sleep, speech and sexual intercourse. A body afflicted by disease does not
derive nourishment from food or water, similarly a heart diseased by desire does
not benefit from admonishment or exhortation.

Whosoever desires to purify his heart, then let him prefer Allah to his desires.

The heart which is clinging to its desires is veiled from Allah, commensurate to
the degree that it is attached to them. The hearts are the vessels of Allah upon
His earth, hence the most beloved of them to Him, are the ones most
compassionate, pure and resistant to deviation.

They (the transgressors) preoccupied their hearts [in the pursuance] of the
Dunya, would that they preoccupied them with Allah and the Hereafter, then
surely they would have reflected upon the intended meaning of His poignant Words
and Verses. Their hearts would have returned to their masters with a wisdom,
marvelously curious and [in possession] of the rarest of precious gems.

If the heart is nourished with remembrance, its thirst quenched with
contemplation and cleansed from corruption, it shall witness remarkable and
wondrous matters, inspiring wisdom.

Not every individual is endowed with knowledge and wisdom, and assumes its
character is from amongst its people. Rather the People of Knowledge and Wisdom
are those who infused life into their hearts by slaying their desires. As for
the one who slew his heart and vitalized his desires, then knowledge and wisdom
are naked upon his tongue.

The destruction of the heart occurs by security [in this Dunya] and negligence,
its fortification occurs by fear and remembrance. If the heart renounces the
pleasures of the Dunya, it settles upon the [pursuance] of the pleasures of the
Hereafter, and amongst those who call towards it. Should the heart become
content with the pleasures of the Dunya, those pleasures [of the Hereafter]
cease [to continue].

Yearning for Allah and His meeting is like the gentle breeze blowing upon the
heart, extinguishing the blaze of the Dunya. Whosoever caused his heart to
settle with his Lord shall be in a state, calm and tranquil, and whosoever sent
it amongst the people shall be disturbed and excessively perturbed.

For the love of Allah shall not enter a heart which contains the love of this
world, except as a camel which passes through the eye of a needle.

Hence, the most beloved servant before Allah is the one whom He places in His
servitude, whom He selects for His love, whom He causes to purify his worship
for Him, dedicates his objectives for Him, his tongue for His remembrance, and
his limbs for His service.

The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah
(repentance) and protection [from transgression].
It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty, and its clarity is obtained by
remembrance.
It becomes naked as the body becomes naked, and its beautification is al-Taqwa.
It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry, and its food and drink
are knowledge, love, dependence, repentance and servitude. By: Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah Source: www.islaam.com